The 2,000-year-old Jobar Synagogue in the Syrian capital of Damascus — the country’s holiest Jewish site — was looted and burned to the ground.

The Syrian army loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebel forces were blaming each other for the destruction of the historic synagogue, according to reports on Sunday.

The synagogue was said to be built on the site where the prophet Elijah concealed himself from persecution and anointed his successor, Elisha, as a prophet. It had been damaged earlier this month by mortars reportedly fired by Syrian government forces.

The rebels said the Syrian government looted the synagogue before burning it to the ground, Israel Radio reported Sunday.

The government said the rebels burned the synagogue and that so-called Zionist agents stole its historic religious items in an operation that had been planned for several weeks, the Arabic Al-Manar Television reported, citing the Arabic Syria Truth website.

The news came as Jews around the world marked the final days of Passover, the festival of freedom....

(Insert pluralistic crap here)

Syria’s Jewish community faced rampant discrimination after the establishment of
Israel.

Really? No kidding! I would say that "discrimination" is an understatement. And what about before the establishment of the State? Watch the following video to find out.

With Jewish property rights severely limited, the synagogue was
taken over and converted to a school for Palestinian refugees.What a minute. Did the reporters miss this, or pass over (pun intended) this on purpose? Does this mean that a "school for Palestinian refugees" was looted and destroyed?Think about. "Zionist agents" are always implicated whenever anyone has a chance. The destruction of Palestianian schools is always fiercely publicized, and whenever anyone has a chance. Why not now? Because this time, no matter how hard they try, there is no getting around the fact that Arabs did the looting and destroying.JTA. No surprises here.

Only some 20 Jews are believed to live in Syria today, all of them in the capital.

What they still doing there? I have heard several reasons, but am not sure which are true, and which are lies:

1) The Jews themselves don't want to leave. 2) The Jews are now allowed to leave.3) The Jews have given up.4) Take your pick.

In early 2011, Assad announced plans to rebuild about a dozen synagogue across Syria, including in Damascus.

Why? For only 20 Jews?

— a move that was regarded in part as an effort to gain some support from
American Jewry. (cont.)

Maybe. But there is a lot more "wagging the dog" going on here than meets the eye.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):Funny,...well,...not really, that one way or another, Arabs looter and destroyed an ancient synagogue. Yet, this piece desperately tries to paint the Syrians as peace loving, even Jew-loving people.

What's wrong with this picture?

Even though this synagogue had already been confiscated by one Arab faction. After that one Arab faction or another looted and destroyed what was being used as a school for Palestinian refugees.